Lakers Put Spin on Spurs

They changed arenas, swapped burdens, reset their stares and then the Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs with sweat dripping from the hems of their shorts.

Five days removed from their breezy rout of the Spurs in Los Angeles, six months removed from their crushing playoff elimination at the hands of the Spurs, the Lakers pulled into the outskirts of town here on Wednesday night, found their defensive posture just before they were to leave, and won, 90-86.

That’s two wins against the Spurs in six days, three wins in 29 days, the season series won before the first frost. The redone Lakers have won seven consecutive games and 10 of their last 11, and arrived in Dallas early this morning with a record of 15-3, best in the NBA.

Shaquille O’Neal, who later would raise the subject of too few touches in -- mark it down -- their 18th game, had 15 points, 16 rebounds and nine blocks. Gary Payton and Karl Malone each scored 16 points. Kobe Bryant, despite some erratic shooting on 20 attempts, scored 21 points. Devean George had 18 points. Tim Duncan, who had 11 points Friday in Los Angeles and sat out Monday’s game against the Clippers because of a one-game league suspension, scored 30 points for the Spurs, four in the fourth quarter.

“We came in and played the way we expected to play,” Payton said with a shrug.

The Spurs have lost four in a row for the first time in nearly three years, two of them to the Lakers, and, at 9-10, find themselves in a similar position as last year’s Lakers; defending NBA champions, straining to find their game under injury and circumstance, and finding absolutely no sympathy.

Having run the Spurs out of Staples Center on Friday night, then having played them possession by possession on Wednesday, trailing by as many as 15 points twice and by nine with 11 minutes remaining, the Lakers fell into locker-room chairs with some measure of delight.

“This one,” said Malone, who made the critical defensive play with 34 seconds left and made four of four shots in a 28-15 fourth quarter, “This one right here is more satisfying, because this is one of those games you earn. We didn’t drop our heads. We kept playing. This right here is more satisfying, on their floor.”

Much of the post-game conversation centered around a Laker defense that held the Spurs to no field goals in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, one field goal in the first nine minutes, and three for the quarter.

As the game grinded on, they double-teamed Duncan -- who was 11 of 15 from the floor in the first three quarters, 0 for 5 in the fourth quarter -- with Bryant and George, most often off of Bruce Bowen. O’Neal wandered away from Rasho Nesterovic and blocked five shots in the fourth quarter. And the Lakers forced the Spurs into 20 turnovers, eight in the last quarter.

In the final minutes, the Lakers took an 87-82 lead on O’Neal’s running hook shot. The Spurs closed to three on Bowen’s jumper and then, after a wild miss by Bryant, and as the clock crept under 40 seconds, Manu Ginobili attempted an entry pass to Duncan. Malone softened, Duncan stumbled backward, and Malone slid around Duncan to intercept the pass, a move he’d set up for going on 48 minutes.

“You’re waiting the whole time and for the right time,” he said. After that, the Spurs did not have another possession with a chance to lead or tie.

“We took their best shot in the second period,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said, “and we came back and found some momentum.”

Most of them celebrated. After all, they’d won without their bench, which contributed four points and five rebounds in 46 minutes. Jackson had pressed big minutes from his starters -- 46 for Bryant -- even on the front end of a back-to-back.

And while it is possible O’Neal will be more valuable to the Lakers scoring 20 points rather than 27, given what it will do for the offense and what it will save from his legs, he seemed to waffle on the theory. Though he reached halftime with two points and three layup misses, it seemed he expected the ball more often.

“As long as we’re winning,” O’Neal said. “I can’t tolerate having bums on my butt and not getting the ball. However, if we’re winning, I guess I’ll have to tolerate it.”

He smiled slightly and shrugged, and perhaps it was a coincidence that more than a handful of Bryant’s shots did not appear to come out of the offense.

“This year,” O’Neal said, “it’s not about me getting 27.”